AFL posts a huge year

The Swans' victory in an epic grand final capped a remarkable season. At quarter-time, and then early in the last quarter, it looked as if the heavily favoured Hawthorn had gotten on top. But both times the Swans exploited the Hawks' missed opportunities, and fought their way back.

Fittingly, the hero was Adam Goodes who played the final quarter and kicked a vital goal, despite a knee injury. It was yet another impressive display of skill and durability by a player once overlooked because recruiters wondered if he had the appetite for the contest.

The outcome was particularly satisfying for coach John Longmire, who had the unenviable task of taking over from the highly regarded Paul Roos. Inevitably, the result vindicated both the faith the club showed in Roos's long-time lieutenant, and the strong legacy left for the new coach with the recruitment and grooming of a number of outstanding young players.

The Swans' triumph was timely, consolidating their place as Sydney's team at a time when the AFL is pouring millions into their western-suburban rivals GWS.

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The AFL administration, lauded for its financial acumen and expansionary zeal, ended the season with an array of problems - some of its own making.

The long and still unresolved investigation into alleged tanking by Melbourne was embarrassing for AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou, particularly given he had often said he believed the practice did not exist. Some concluded that Demetriou's failure to recognise tanking - clubs losing games to improve their position in the draft - had emboldened clubs to do so.

Adelaide's payments to star forward Kurt Tippett outside the salary cap caused further embarrassment, with the AFL's seemingly soft penalties, including a six-month penalty for disgraced Crows chief executive Stephen Trigg, seen as a slap on the wrist.

Particularly after Trigg, who had pleaded guilty, subsequently attempted to downplay his wrongdoing. The widespread belief at club level that there is a problem with recreational drugs has also called into question the AFL's controversial ''three strikes'' policy.

Many clubs feel that the AFL's generally low figures on drug use do not square with their own experiences.

Accordingly, for the first time, both the AFL Commission and Demetriou have come under close scrutiny.

The superstar

It was the year of great bloodlines for the AFL. Essendon's Jobe Watson - known for most of his career as ''Tim's boy'' - won the Brownlow Medal. Something his father - a brilliant, triple-premiership player with the Bombers - never achieved.

With the Swans, Josh Kennedy provided an equally compelling story. The grandson of Hawthorn legend John Kennedy, and the son of four-time Hawks premiership player John Jnr, Kennedy had come to the Swans seeking the opportunity he was not given in the Hawks midfield.

His rise from unwanted, spare-parts on-baller to one of the competition's elite players was capped with a brilliant season in which he was the most telling contributor in an outstanding midfield. It might have been somewhat more romantic had Kennedy become a third-generation champion with the Hawks. But, by the end of the season he had been embraced as Sydney's own.

The issue

The growth - or possible stagnation - of the two new clubs, and their impact on the competition, remains the pressing concern.

With 18 teams, talent is now spread thin across the competition, and the number of one-sided games last season became a concern. That might dissipate as GWS and Gold Coast improve, but inevitably other teams will become uncompetitive. Will the broadcasters who paid $1.25 billion for the rights be satisfied with so many lopsided contests?

At the same time, clubs and fans in the game's traditional heartland will become more uneasy as the extent of the draft and financial concessions allowed the new teams become apparent. GWS, particularly, has assembled an army of elite young players through drafting concessions some already contend were too generous. If the Giants awake in the next few years as most expect, the screams from Melbourne will be heard across the Murray.

What's next?

Those of us who underestimated the Swans this year will not make the same mistake next season. The ferocious appetite for success demonstrated in their finals victories over Collingwood and Hawthorn will serve them well in the difficult task of going back-to-back, as will the acquisition of Tippett.

Collingwood, West Coast and - if the scars of a couple of desperately disappointing finals series have healed - Hawthorn again seem the most likely challengers. The great subplot of the season will be the performance of veteran coach Michael Malthouse at Carlton, particularly head-to-head with his former Collingwood colleague Nathan Buckley.

For the AFL itself, halting a decline in live attendances is crucial. Television live-against-the-gate, some later game times and one-sided matches have had an impact on the crowds that are the competition's great strength.

The quote

''I'm definitely going to be at the Giants [in 2013-14], that's for sure. It's just rumours, whoever's spreading that [about returning to league], it's definitely not true.'' Israel Folau pledges his allegiance to GWS in July.